San Angelo Police Investigate Train, Pedestrian Collision

A 28-year-old San Angelo man is recovering from emergency surgery after a train struck him late Saturday night.

Chris Bernard

Just before 2:00 a.m. Sunday morning, San Angelo Police were dispatched to the Angelo Place Apartment complex located at 1426 Western Court for the report of an unknown problem. Upon arrival, Officers were flagged down by a subject who said he discovered a badly injured man lying on the railroad tracks nearby.

Officers went to the tracks and located a male victim, later identified as Vincinte Hernandez, suffering from severe injuries he sustained from a suspected collision with a train. San Angelo Fire Department Medics responded and transported Hernandez to Shannon Medical Center where he reportedly underwent emergency surgery. Hernandez remains hospitalized and he is said to be in stable condition.

Investigators with the San Angelo Police Department’s Traffic Section, Criminal Investigations Division, and Crime Scene Investigations Section responded to the scene along with an official from the Texas Pacifico Transportation LTD. Subsequent to their investigation, it was learned Hernandez was believed to have been on or near the railroad tracks consuming alcohol prior to the collision and may have been asleep on the tracks when the train struck him. Texas Pacifico officials confirmed two trains traveled through the area where Hernandez was located around 11:30 p.m. Evidence of alcohol consumption was recovered from the area near the tracks. The train that collided with Hernandez was stopped northeast of San Angelo’s city limits and the train’s Conductor cooperated fully with investigators.

A small group of people who heard Hernandez’s cries for help after leaving a party at the apartment complex is credited for saving Hernandez’s life. Members of the group initially thought the cries for help was a prank until one of the group’s members went to investigate.

The San Angelo Police Department wants to remind everyone that pedestrians who walk or loiter around railroad tracks are trespassing on private property and could be fined, arrested, seriously injured or killed. According to Federal Railroad Administration statistics, 892 pedestrian rail trespass casualties (fatalities + injuries) occurred in 2014. Texas is ranked number two in the nation with 42 deaths and 39 injuries [2014].